While the allegations of academic fraud within the North Carolina athletic department has received publicity over the last two years, there wasn’t a great deal done from an NCAA standpoint. In light of allegations made by a former North Carolina basketball player Friday, the question now is whether or not the NCAA will revisit the situation.

In a story written by Steve Delsohn of ESPN’s Outside the Lines, former North Carolina basketball player Rashad McCants stated that he took phony classes in order to remain eligible, including four during the spring of his junior season. That year North Carolina won the national title, and McCants made the Dean’s list during the spring semester by getting A’s in all four courses he took.

Those courses were part of a “paper-class” system, which according to McCants meant that only requirement was to write a term paper at the end of the semester (there was no requirement to attend class). Also discussed were McCants’ academic struggles during that 2004-05 season, with the former player stating that head coach Roy Williams knew about the situation.

McCants said he was headed toward ineligibility during the championship season because he had failed algebra and psychology, which accounted for half of his credits, in the fall of 2004. He had two A’s in AFAM classes in addition to the F’s. He said coach Roy Williams informed him of his academic troubles during a meeting ahead of the spring semester.

“There was a slight panic on my part … [he] said, you know, we’re going to be able to figure out how to make it happen, but you need to buckle down on your academics.”

He said Williams told him “we’re going to be able to change a class from, you know, your summer session class and swap it out with the class that you failed, just so the GPA could reflect that you are in good standing.”

According to the story all four of the classes McCants took during the Spring 2005 semester were in the school’s African and African-American Studies department, which was revealed to have hosted a number of phony classes set up to keep athletes eligible. UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham issued a statement to Outside the Lines, encouraging McCants to speak with the independent investigator the school hired to look into the academic fraud issues (Kenneth Wainstein).

“It is disappointing any time a student is dissatisfied with his or her experience. I welcome the opportunity to speak with Rashad McCants about returning to UNC to continue his academic career — just as we have welcomed many former student-athletes interested in completing their degrees.

“The university hired former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein in January to conduct an independent investigation into past academic and athletic irregularities. While these are the first allegations we have heard from Mr. McCants, I encourage him to speak with Mr. Wainstein. …

“I have gotten to know some of Mr. McCants’ teammates, and I know that claims about their academic experience have affected them deeply. They are adamant that they had a different experience at UNC-Chapel Hill than has been portrayed by Mr. McCants and others.”

Interestingly enough, some who played at rival schools have chimed in on McCants’ interview and the reactions have been interesting to say the least. Instead of celebrating the hit that North Carolina could take with this news, they’ve questioned McCants’ motivation for making these statements. One such person is former NC State guard Julius Hodge.

Need to see this interview. Did he tell how he was getting paid by diff agents?The flashy whip in college? Bet he didn't out that huh? #crab

The question now is whether or not McCants’ interview motivates the NCAA to take another look at the academic situation in the North Carolina athletic department, with the football program receiving the greatest punishment (there were also agent issues within that program) at the time.